Consciousness news, articles and features | New Scientist

The understanding that even bees have feelings is changing our view of consciousness

Rowan Hooper — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:00:00 +0000

From jays that seem to say "sorry" to insects that play, signs of emotional inner life across the animal kingdom are giving us new perspectives on what consciousness is, and how we might pin it down

Do AIs already process information in a way that gives rise to consciousness?

David Robson — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 15:00:00 +0000

A leading theory of consciousness explains experience as information flowing through a global workspace in the mind. On board a luxury yacht, neuroscientists and philosophers recently debated signs of a similar workspace in the chatbot Claude

Could consciousness be quantum?

Emily Bates — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 17:00:00 +0000

For decades, the idea has been dismissed as too strange to take seriously. But experiments involving microtubules, anaesthetics and brain organoids are beginning to test whether quantum effects could play a role in consciousness.

We explore Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff’s controversial Orch OR theory, the evidence for and against it and whether quantum computers could one day help reveal what consciousness really is. We also venture into whether observation and consciousness could play a fundamental role in shaping reality itself.

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Sean Carroll: uncovering the mysteries of quantum mechanics

Gödel, Escher, Bach: A daunting but captivating look at consciousness

Gerardo Bandera — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Douglas Hofstadter’s weighty tome, an exploration of mathematics, music and the mind, runs to almost 800 pages – but is worth the effort, finds Gerardo Bandera

Can consciousness be quantum? We may now have an answer

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

A mathematical analysis suggests that the notion of agency, which is a prerequisite for consciousness, cannot be purely quantum in nature

Our brains have their first thoughts unexpectedly early in life

Thomas Lewton — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:00:01 +0000

By the time we’re born, our brains have all the hardware in place to form thoughts, and possibly even some conscious awareness

Is consciousness more fundamental to reality than quantum physics?

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 15:00:05 +0000

The idea that everything that exists can be built from the bottom up has long held sway among physicists. Now, a new kind of science is under construction that centres conscious experience – and might unravel the universe’s biggest mysteries

Michael Pollan: ‘Consciousness is really under siege’

Olivia Goldhill — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:00:12 +0000

A psychedelic experience set author Michael Pollan on a quest to understand consciousness in his new book A World Appears. He tells Olivia Goldhill what he learned – and how it changed him

Want to live forever? There are major questions to confront, first

New Scientist — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:53:42 +0000

A start-up has worked out how to preserve the brain after death – paving the way for immortality in a distant future. But beginning to reckon with this reality yields serious practical and philosophical questions

The simple questions cracking the hard problem of consciousness

George Musser — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:00:19 +0000

Do we all see the same red? Or feel joy and sadness alike? Mapping how our inner experiences relate to one another could finally reveal how physical processes in the brain give rise to consciousness